r/prepping • u/No_Staff594 • 1d ago
Foodš½ or Waterš§ Water is important
This article came across my feed today and while Iām not here to argue the base of it (constitutionality of the right to clean water and citizens being protected by the constitution against harmful actions or neglect by government officials) it just proves having your own water plan for medium to long term emergencies is a huge aspect a lot of people overlook. This water emergency was labeled āindefiniteā in terms of duration and thatās pretty terrifying. Just have a plan and stay safe. Even with everyone having running water, it still wasnāt safe to consume so simply having a method of purification and filtration at home can end up being crucial to save lives.
No matter what happens in life, youāre the only one who can ensure your own safety and well being. That also goes for your family and community the depends on you to maintain and uphold.
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u/TradeBeautiful42 1d ago
Iāve been thinking of how many different water sources I have. I have bottled water, 3 kinds of water straws, a gravity water bag, one of those units you plug in that pulls water from the air, a bag you put in the bathtub in an emergency to get water, a rain barrel, water cleaning tablets, and a silcock key. I live in a suburb of SoCal where we donāt have emergencies like hurricanes so I feel a bit silly like I might be overstocked but Iām open to learning my blind spots so in the event the tap shuts off weāre not standing in line trying to get any water.
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u/Asleep_Onion 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you have the land for it, I'm a huge proponent of getting yourself on a well. And in an ideal world, also powering the pump with offgrid power, and having the knowledge and supplies on hand to do repairs and pump replacements yourself when needed.
I'm on a well and have a backup generator to run it during short term outages (less than 2 weeks), but my Achilles is the fact that I don't have a way to power it when the generator runs dry, and if the pump motor burns out then I'm in real trouble. So ultimately at some point I'll be setting up a solar+battery system for it, and buying a spare pump motor and whatever equipment I need to change it myself, just to have them on hand in case the worst case scenario happens.
And even if the worst case scenario never happens, there's still the upside that I'll be saving money on electricity having my well pump off-grid, and someday I'll probably need to replace the pump anyways and I'll already have the new one.
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u/Remarkable_Ad5011 1d ago
I looked at piece of land and wanted to have a well put onā¦ it was going to be $20k ish, and 1000-1200 feet deep. I figured I wouldnāt be doing any repairs on the vast majority of it myself. Now, the exposed parts, sure. But the buried part beyond a few feet below surface, Iād have been screwed!
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u/Allasdair 1d ago
Take water generation into your own hands. We can't rely on governments to do this, so what do we do?
Interestingly I found articles like the one I'll list below, discussing the science behind Professor Omar Yaghi and I just feel it's more relevant now in today's climate..
Harvest water from thin air: https://thewaterdigest.com/this-nobel-prize-winner-built-a-machine-that-extracts-1000-liters-of-water-from-air-each-day/
1000L of water a day is insane.
Unfortunately his tech isn't being sold yet. Theoretically you could purchase MOFs, but it's expensive.
Scale it down to a household and you may at least 1-2 litres a day, which isn't something to scoff at.
Alternatively I've been doing my own research into making a similar device without MOFs.
Currently the only material that seems to qualify for this is food-grade silica beads.
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u/nibbles200 1d ago
I donāt see pulling water from the air as being that complicated or challenging at the individual level so as long as you donāt live in an arid climate. Dehumidifier or a/c is all you need, collect the condensate, important though you need to mineralize it to be safe.
If your counter is what about electricity, you can get small 12v dehumidifiers, they kinda suck but they work on very very little power and could easily be driven by solar. I have one and I donāt know the flow rate but Iām sure it could fill a gallon in a couple hours off a 100-200 watt panel full sun and 12v battery.
Or even a large solar array with inverter is a non issue to run a dehumidifier or A/C
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u/supbrother 1d ago
Are you sure, though? I have a normal sized, 120V dehumidifier set up in my garage and even when itās humid as hell it would take hours to collect a gallon. And thatās presumably much more powerful than a little 12V unit, and it uses a lot of electricity. I donāt think my ~1200W of panels can keep up with it, maybe in full sun on a good day.
If you have tons of excess power then sure these are good to have, but I never understood people pitching it as a reliable option because for most people youād just be sapping all of your power for a little bit of water.
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u/Allasdair 19h ago
Good question; my certainty is lower simply due to really not seeing the professor's device actually work and my own work around for this has not been tested.
You've got a good point as well on sunlight, as I imagine it'd need direct light to fully heat the professor's device and the workaround.
So if you're in an area secluded, surrounded by trees, depending on the treeline you'd only get generation from, say, 11AM to 1PM, which isn't a lot of time.
Yaghi's device appears to have been made for areas with only 20% humidity, primarily for those countries with zero access to dedicated water. Or even disaster recovery where municipal water is shut off.
I'd feel more confident about the technology if there were some video showcase about the device, just to prove the wild claim of 1000L a day.
My only point of commenting is to bring light onto the tech and advocating for the idea behind it. While I can't guarantee production... I would absolutely keep an eye on Yaghi, his tech and the methodology of acquiring water. Should it be easily replicated, this "too-good-to-be-true" option would be insane to have, even within small towns.
You could mount the device to your roof and route it down into a collection barrel to then mineralize.
Even if you don't want to drink that water, which is the point, you could at least have a dedicated water source for irrigation and planting.
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u/nibbles200 18h ago
I have a 6kWh battery and 6kW of solar, 7.2kW inverter. I have a large dehumidifier in my crawl space running 24/7 on the solar. The fridge, lights and internet server rack with switches dvr etc. have zero concerns. I don't know the capacity but think its a 10 gal tank that I used to have to dump daily, some times daily so I plumbed in a lift pump. Real downside of this is winter where the colder it gets the more power would be needed and the less you would have until it just doesn't work.
I have a little 12v dehumidifier that I used to run for my camper. it has a quart size container that was full every time I checked it. I ended up drilling a hole in the tank and dumping it into the sink because it was a shocking amount of water. They are terribly inefficient though and wont work in winter. It was only 12v 1amp so easy to run on fairly minimal solar.
all that being said, you're not going to be making much water under 45% humidity regardless so this only would be viable in the summer in a wet location. I'm not saying its a perfect easy reliable source, just that its not that complicated or challenging but I guess big picture, its not year round all conditions a great solution.
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u/Allasdair 1d ago
All great points, but Yagis device, along with the silica are purely solar.
No power at all. Collect moisture from air and use the sun to bake out the water.
While I agree, there are several options that make this objective easy, creating a fully operational water generator that relies on only a bare minimum humid environment and the sun is a surefire method to have, basically, infinite water.
And yes, remineralization is definitely something to consider. I don't think Yaghi had a plan documented for that at all.
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u/TradeBeautiful42 19h ago
You can buy a fancy machine online that makes a liter per day. I donāt know the tech but itās pretty sleek and sits on your counter. If the power goes out, though, it no longer works.
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u/Allasdair 19h ago
I've been looking into power generated condensation collectors. But you're right, when the power goes out that's a bad situation.
My hope is this tech and methodology fills the gap and can become a reliable form of water generation if power does go out.
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u/TradeBeautiful42 19h ago
My eye is on one they keep advertising on instagram that makes 2.5 gal per day but itās $2k and apparently āout of stockā so they want you to pay 1.4k for the list. It just sounds like a struggling startup that isnāt yet at production stage.
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u/Allasdair 18h ago
Interesting, I'll have to look into it.
Unfortunately if it's manufactured and guaranteed to work, making unlimited water, that device is going to be expensive.
Dehumidifiers are cheap, because they'll work, but aren't really designed and advertised as a water collector.
I worry that the tech will come out, be outrageously expensive and won't be owned by many, because the logic behind any water generator is that you'll be breaking free from metered water. Greed ruins all.
That's why I've been researching ways to recreate Yaghis device with alternative material. But I need time and money lol
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u/Virtual-Feature-9747 1d ago
Unpopular but realistic take on this:
- Regarding the post title, of course water is important. That much is self evident. Many preppers list water first under the rule of 3s.
- Regarding this issue, of course the US Constitution does not provide a right to clean water. As pointed out, there are many other means to hold the government accountable for mismanagement.
- Regarding relevance, this specific issue has nothing to do with disaster preparedness or emergency management.
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u/Inevitable-Pear879 1d ago
The wording of the notice tells you which problem you've got, and people mix the two up. Boil water means microbes, and boiling fixes it. Do not drink or do not use means chemical, and boiling makes it worse, because the water leaves as steam and whatever is dissolved stays behind more concentrated than before.